I got to play better. There's opportunities for me to do it. I just haven't done it. - Matthew Stafford

Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz talks with line judge Ron Phares in the second half of an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears in Chicago, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)AP Photo

CHICAGO -- The Detroit Lions' latest loss, this time against the Chicago Bears, took me way back last night.

My mom thought it would be a great idea to enroll me in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program at 8-years old. She was a single mom raising her child in the Bronx. Her son was slightly nerdy, but every good gang needs a smart accountant. I needed a male role model not named RUN or DMC, and she sought some outside help.

I was matched with this guy named Derrick Jackson, a sports reporter at Newsday in New York. We were supposed to meet at the organization's Christmas party.

An 8-year-old boy matched with a guy who gets to hang around Yankees, Mets, Knicks and Giants players? Score.

There were tons of kids at this Christmas party, and each Big Brother and Big Sister bought a Christmas gift for Santa to give each kid. The kids were told it was from their new older sibling, and I was dying with anticipation.

I saw kids getting footballs, and they would go crazy. Other boys received basketballs. Another kid got a remote control car. Somebody else got a Transformer. Then Santa gave me Derrick's present. I ran back to him and my mom, I ripped open the present hoping to have something to share with the other kids.

A Chinese Checkers board.

What?

Was the toy store out of rocks?

Derrick thought he would expose his inner-city little brother to something new. He thought culture was a good idea. In some ways, he was rescuing me. In reality, he was just embarrassing me in front of every other kid who received a present made for ... a kid?

Who was to blame?

In my view, it was him, of course. Sure, you can call me ungrateful and say I acted like a child, but most 8-years are considered children. Even Derrick admits now that he was overthinking it. He could have kept it simple, but decided to get cute. It was a rough beginning for us.

The same can be said for this year's Detroit Lions.

Detroit's offense is to blame for Monday's 13-7 loss against the Chicago Bears, and arguably responsible for the team's 2-4 start. Detroit has played poorly on special teams, but something is wrong with quarterback Matthew Stafford.

Lions coach Jim Schwartz can tell us every week that Stafford is fine, but there is no reason to believe him. Stafford completed 8-of-15 passes for 43 yards going into halftime. I did not say after the first quarter, but halftime. He finished with 28-of-46 completions for 261 yards, one touchdown, and an interception.

If you look beyond the stats, Stafford is missing wide-open players consistently. He struggles to hit players in stride. Stafford has been unable to make the tough throws this season that made him great last year. He has played spectacular in the fourth quarter of every game this season, meaning he has looked good in only 4-of-24 quarters this year.

"A lot (is on me)," Stafford said. "Got to play better. I got to play better. There's opportunities for me to do it. I just haven't done it."

When Stafford is able to complete a pass, his receivers drop the ball. Maybe these drops are out of shock that Stafford's passes didn't sail over their heads, or skip 5-yards in front of them. The other culprit is simple lack of execution.

Scott Linehan, come on down.

I will go easy on Detroit's offensive coordinator this week for one reason. Detroit had three turnovers in the red zone against the Chicago Bears. Running backs Joique Bell and Mikel Leshoure fumbled, while Stafford threw an interception. Linehan deserves credit for getting his team into scoring position, and I cannot blame him for Stafford's bad throws.

However, Linehan sometimes leaves points on the board by overthinking his play calling. It is cute to have offensive lineman Riley Reiff line up as an eligible receiver, but since when is that Detroit's offensive identity? The Lions were successful last season because they took shots down the field. They imposed their will on opponents.

Collectively, everybody associated with Detroit's offense, and that includes players, need to step up.

Detroit has scored only one touchdown by halftime in six games this season.

That is not good enough.

Detroit returned every offensive starter from last year's offensive juggernaut. If Detroit's defense holds the Chicago Bears to 13 points on the road, that offense has to score points. It was a wasted effort, especially considering Lions general manager Martin Mayhew was probably one call way from calling MLive commenter "The Curse of Bobby Layne Part 2" to start at nickleback.

"Football is a funny game," Stafford said. "Not every week do you have a great performance, offense, defense, special teams. That's why we play games. If it was just a paper sport, then fantasy football would be real and all that kind of stuff. You got to out there, you got to make the plays. We just haven't been able to do it."

Derrick is currently a columnist at the Boston Globe. He and I are still close.